


nightmares and daydreams (part ii)

by manbun_zukka



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: And like, Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s03e16 The Southern Raiders, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I mean, M/M, Nightmares, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Sleepy Cuddles, Sozin's Comet, and, and also, but theres a lot of fluff i promise, cuddles in general, cuz they in love, every one of them - Freeform, listen yall, oh yeah, they've got trauma but they're cuddly motherfuckers anyways, theyve all got trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26903257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manbun_zukka/pseuds/manbun_zukka
Summary: When Zuko has nightmares, Sokka can always tell.And Zuko always knows the same about Sokka.---aka: they've all got trauma and they work through it with kind words and cuddles.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 213





	nightmares and daydreams (part ii)

**Author's Note:**

> Listen yall. i know that we talk a lot about zuko's trauma (as we should), and there are plenty of fics out there with sokka comforting him after a nightmare. but my friends, we have forgotten, pushed aside, not even aknowledged sokka's trauma. so, here i give to you: both sokka comforting zuko, AND zuko comforting sokka, in an almost 3k hurt/comfort sesh.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> xx,  
> CJ

When Zuko has nightmares, Sokka can always tell. 

His husband has never been a restless sleeper, so unlike himself, and once he’s made himself comfortable for the night, he just doesn’t move. Typically, Zuko will burrow himself into Sokka’s side, with his head tucked under his chin, his ear resting right above his heart, and stay there for the rest of the night. His head rises and falls with the rhythm of Sokka’s breathing, and his long, black hair flows over Sokka’s bare chest, and he sinks so far down into sleep, as if he’s trying to soak up every last drop of rest in the few hours that he can afford to take off.

But, occasionally, Zuko has nightmares.

They were more frequent in the months soon after the war, when Sokka and Zuko had first gotten together. There was something about being back in the palace, being in his old room, in his old bed, wearing the robes that his father used to wear, with his father’s headpiece tucked into his hair; it triggered a reaction in Zuko that brought back some of the most horrible memories from his childhood.

The way that Sokka always knows when Zuko is having a nightmare are his movements. When Zuko has nightmares, his nonexistent state of motion is disrupted. Sometimes, it’s almost unnoticeable, just small tremors that travel up and down his spine. But other times, Zuko thrashes and kicks at the sheets, his fingers sparking at his sides.

Sokka has learned how to deal with the nightmares. He knows what Zuko needs, and what he can’t deal with, and the right way to talk to him in order to coax him back into a relaxed state. They’ve lessened in numbers in the years since the war, and now that life has settled into a familiar rhythm, one with mind-numbing meetings, and nightly dinners and baths, and letters to and from their friends, and regular visits to the South Pole, Zuko’s nightmares are almost nonexistent. He’ll have one once a month, maybe. Their declining numbers have something to do with the familiarity and the routine that Zuko has finally sunk into, but they also have a  _ lot  _ to do with Sokka’s constant presence by his side at night, a warmth that Zuko knows is safe and comforting.

So Sokka always knows when Zuko has nightmares. And Zuko always knows the same about Sokka.

Sokka’s nightmares are a sort of equal and opposite to Zuko’s. He’s a restless sleeper, always turning from one side to the other, but still careful enough even in sleep that he doesn’t jostle his husband too much when he moves. He usually ends up on his back or stomach, always providing a part of his body to serve as Zuko’s pillow, with his now shoulder length hair splayed across his neck and shoulders, tickling Zuko’s face. He’s kept the sides cropped short, and Zuko loves to run his fingers along them, but not as much as he loves to comb through the longer hairs that reside on top of Sokka’s head, their silky smooth texture soft and reassuring in his hands. Even once Sokka has settled for the night though, he still moves. His breaths become long and deep in unconsciousness, and they rumble through his chest underneath Zuko’s head. His head flips from side to side, jostling his hair and tickling Zuko’s face even more. 

His nightmares carry a similar juxtaposition to Zuko’s; where Zuko is still in sleep and active in nightmares, Sokka is active in sleep and still in nightmares. Where Zuko shivers and whimpers and kicks at the sheets, Sokka goes ramrod straight and his breaths become quick and shallow, moving almost invisibly through his chest.

Despite the fact that he can’t shoot actual fire from his hands when his emotions get the better of him, post-nightmare Sokka is always in a delicate place, and Zuko has to be very careful with how he treats his husband. It’s different every time, and it can sometimes be quite difficult for Zuko to target exactly what Sokka needs in the moment; whether he needs to be held tightly until his breaths even out, or whether he needs to sit against the cool wood of the headboard and have nothing touch him but Zuko’s pinky finger, entwined with his own. Sokka’s never had as many nightmares as Zuko, but they seem to be triggered by certain dates: the anniversary of his mother’s death, the anniversary of Yue’s sacrifice, the day that marks the invasion of the Black Sun. There are a few others, like his mother’s birthday, and occasionally the anniversary of Sozin’s Comet, that can trigger the nightmares, but at this point they’ve gotten to where they come not once every month or so like Zuko’s, but more like once every three or four months, filtering in and out.

So Sokka and Zuko have nightmares. And, when it comes down to it, all that either of them need to get through them is each other.

~~~~~~~

_ “Your personal decisions have brought shame on our nation, Firelord Zuko,” Ambassador Pao spits. “You’ve done no good in your rule! The Fire Nation prospered under Lord Ozai and you have-” _

_ Suddenly, the Ambassador and all of his surroundings fade away, leaving Zuko alone in the throne room. And it isn’t the throne room that he knows now, what with it’s large, circular table, and chairs that were all on the same level. No, this is the throne room of Zuko’s childhood, with its walls of fire and golden throne. _

_ “You really haven’t done any good, have you Prince Zuko?” an all-too-familiar voice asks from above him. It’s only now that Zuko notices how he’s kneeling on the ground, his chest bare and his hair tied back in a phoenix-tail. He reaches up to touch his face and startles at the too-smooth skin on his left side, where it was miraculously unscarred. _

_ Ozai reaches down and places a hand on his face, his palm warm and callused. “Your mother was always too soft on you. I’d hoped that a war would show you how a real man should act, but look at you now, squandering away a century of your forefathers hard work. And what else have you done, Prince Zuko? Repealed a hundred year’s worth of hard-earned laws, fired some of my best councilmen and generals, married a Water Tribe savage-” _

_ “Don’t,” Zuko says suddenly, the word slipping out of his mouth and surprising both himself and his father. “Don’t talk about him like that. You can say whatever shit you want about me, but not a word about my husband, or so help me Agni I’ll-” _

_ “You’ll what, Zuko?” Ozai taunts, a condescending smirk on his face. “You’ll burn me? You’ll banish me? You never did learn, son. I told you when you were young, you will learn respect and suffering will be your teacher. When has that ever changed?” _

_ And with that, he lights his hand on fire. _

Sokka wakes up to the sounds of Zuko whimpering in his sleep. His entire body is shaking, but it’s most powerful in his hands, which are clenched tightly at his sides, and sometimes Zuko doesn’t make any sound when he has nightmares, but right now Sokka can hear him clearly, quiet cries of pain pressed against his chest. 

He sits up against the headboard, gently adjusting his husband so that Zuko’s head rests in his lap. There are small sparks coming from his fists now, and Sokka knows that if he doesn’t want to end up with scorched bedsheets and an extremely embarrassed husband on his hands, he needs to wake Zuko up, and soon.

“Baby,” Sokka murmurs, carding his fingers through Zuko’s hair. “Baby, I need you to wake up for me. I’m right here. You’ve got to wake up, Zuko. C’mon, sweetheart. It’s okay. It’s just a dream, you just have to wake up.”

Zuko’s eyes snap open with a gasp and a shiver, and he blinks, once, twice, his fists uncurling. A few tears trickle out of his good eye, and he flips so that his face is pressed into Sokka’s lap, body shaking with silent cries.

“Hey, sweetheart, it’s okay,” Sokka reassures him, moving one hand from his hair so that he can rub it up and down his back. “It’s alright. You’re okay. It was just a dream, you’re safe now. I love you so much, babe, you’re so strong.”

Zuko sniffles slightly, looking up at Sokka with watery eyes. “‘M sorry I woke you,” he mumbles, before hiding his face once more.

“Oh, no, baby, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” Sokka promises him. It’s like this whenever Zuko has a nightmare, he gets apologetic for something that’s out of his control, and Sokka always has the patience and the time to reassure him that he’s done nothing wrong.

It’s not his fault that his father was an abusive asshole. (It’s nobody’s fault but Ozai’s, and if Aang wasn’t such a pacifist then Sokka would’ve killed his father-in-law by now.)

Zuko sniffs again, muffling a sob in Sokka’s thigh. “Honey, what is it?” he asks gently, rubbing circles into the base of his neck. “Was this one really bad?”   
  


Zuko shakes his head. “It was really stupid, honestly. It was- Ambassador Pao said something yesterday, he was comparing my reign to Ozai’s, and, I dunno, something about it brought back some old memories or something.”

Sokka hums, low in his throat, and he can feel the tension slowly draining out of Zuko’s body. “I’m sorry, baby. Do you want to talk more about it?”   
  


Zuko shakes his head again, and Sokka nods, moving so that instead of sitting against the headboard, he’s laying down with Zuko, and his husband burrows into his chest, nuzzling into the juncture of his neck and shoulder. Sokka slings an arm around Zuko’s waist, and measures his breaths to be deep and slow beneath Zuko, relaxing into the mattress.

“I love you, Zuko,” Sokka whispers. “So much.”

“Mm, love you too,” Zuko murmurs back sleepily. Sokka waits for the telltale sound of his slow and deep breathing before he finally drifts off too, carefully intertwined with the man that he loves.

~~~~~~~

_ “Sokka,” Toph gasps. “Sokka, don’t let go. Please.  _ Please _.” _

_ “Hold on, Toph,” Sokka breathes, trying his hardest to tighten his grip on her fingers. His shoulder burns, and his leg is on fire, but he has to push through, has to hold on, because he can’t let go of her, can’t have another innocent life lost because of his incompetence. _

_ “Sokka!” Toph exclaims, her fingers slipping out of his. _

_ “Toph!” Sokka yells, reaching out to try and grab her. “Toph, no!” _

_ Suddenly, the fire and the heat and the orange sky of the comet fade away, and Sokka is surrounded by darkness. Then, the village materialises right in front of him, and he watches as a younger version of himself has a snowball fight with Katara, laughing and trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues, until the black snow starts falling.  _

_ He watches as the soldiers invade their village, watches as a man storms into their igloo. “Mom!” the younger version of him exclaims. Sokka follows his younger self towards the tent, and when he pushes back the flap he sees his mother, but not the faded, muted flashes of Kya that he remembers. No, this version of his mother has no face, because he can’t remember it, but her body is covered with blood, and the bleeding won’t stop, and Sokka tries to cry out, but then the world fades into darkness once more. _

Zuko wakes up because Sokka’s chest is stiff underneath his head, and his breaths are pulling shallow and quick, which can only mean one thing. Sokka’s having a nightmare.

This isn’t the worst one that Zuko’s seen, but it’s up there. He’ll never forget what  _ was  _ the worst one, maybe a year or two into their relationship. Sokka had been stuck in a sort of limbo for what felt like hours afterwards, his eyes open yet unseeing. Now, though, he’s rigid and stuck in what Zuko can only assume is a living hell, if the little whimpers that he’s letting out are any clue.

“Sokka,” he says quietly, sitting up on his knees at his husband’s side. “Sokka, you’ve got to wake up. C’mon, baby. Wake up.”

It always takes a few more minutes of coaxing for Zuko to wake Sokka than it does for Sokka to wake Zuko, but when he does wake, it’s with a breath caught in his throat, his eyes snapping open.

“Sokka,” Zuko murmurs, leaning over him, his long hair making a curtain around their faces. Sokka’s breaths are all gasps, and they keep getting caught in his throat on the way out. “Darling, you need to breathe.”

Sokka shakes his head at Zuko, eyes wide. “I can’t- I can’t  _ breathe _ ,” he wheezes.

Zuko works hard to even out his own breaths, and he gently takes Sokka’s hand and rests it on his chest so that he can feel the rhythm of Zuko’s deep breathing. “Feel my breaths, yeah? You need to breathe nice and deep, just like this. Okay? In and out, that’s good.”

As Sokka’s gasps slowly level out to wheezes, and then shallow inhales, he slumps in Zuko’s hold, exhausted. “Sorry,” he whispers. 

“Hey, no apologizing,” Zuko murmurs back, brushing a hair away from his forehead. “Are you okay? That one seemed pretty bad.”

Sokka shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut. “It was about Toph. Her falling during the comet. And about my mom. But it was- it wasn’t her. Because I couldn’t see her face, so there was this- this black hole, her face was just  _ gone _ , and it was-”

“Shh, shh, it’s okay,” Zuko sooths. Sokka’s started to get worked up again, and Zuko reaches down and pulls his husband into his lap, shushing him quietly. “It’s okay. Toph is okay, she’s safe in Omashu with King Bumi, and your mom is at peace with the Spirits, and everyone else is safe at home. We’re all okay. It’s alright.”

Sokka nods, albeit shakily, but Zuko’s gonna take what he can get. “Thank you,” Sokka whispers. 

“Any time, love,” Zuko murmurs. “Any time.”

They drift back into unconsciousness with Sokka leaning onto Zuko for once, the two of them wrapped up together until morning, when Agni rises and duties call.

~~~~~~~

Years in the future, the nightmares will still come. Sure, they might be even  _ more  _ infrequent then, but they will still come, and they’ll still affect Sokka and Zuko the same as they do now. Zuko will still thrash and spark, and Sokka will still go rigid and find it hard to breathe. But they’ll still be there for each other.

Years in the future, Sokka and Zuko will be awoken late at night, not because of nightmares, but because of the cries of their infant daughter. Zuko will cross the room and lean over her cradle, picking her up before bringing her back to their bed. He’ll sit cross legged against the headboard and lean his head onto his husband’s shoulder, and together they’ll hum quietly under their breath until she falls back to sleep.

Years in the future, there will be new laws to pass, and new wars to fight. There will be colonies made, and civilizations reborn in the form of nieces and nephews, and no matter what goes on during the day, Sokka and Zuko will always end up in bed together, laying like they have all their lives. 

Sokka, on his chest or back, will always make room for Zuko to rest his head. They will always sleep with their hair down, even as it grays with their age, and Zuko will always sleep so still that sometimes Sokka will have to check and make sure that he’s still breathing. 

There will be nights when their daughter crawls into bed between them, maybe because she’s been scared by nightmares of her own, or maybe because her bed feels cold and lonely on that particular night. She will find her own place, with her dads, and whenever the three of them room together Izumi will end up fitting perfectly between them, her cin hooked onto Zuko’s shoulder.

Years in the future, there will still be nights when Zuko has to stay up for hours upon hours, reading over new laws and decrees, criminal reports, and the like. On those nights, Sokka will stay up with him, and he’ll sit beside his husband and help pick out typos and spelling mistakes. Years in the future, there will still be nights when Sokka just _has_ to stay up with the moon, leaning against the railing of the balcony and just looking at her, and Zuko will sit behind him, maybe writing a letter to Aang and Katara, or reading one from Piandao and Jeong Jeong, sipping on a cup of camomile tea. When Sokka has stared at Yue for long enough, he’ll settle down next to his husband, and hand Zuko his own cup of tea, which will have cooled fully by then. Zuko will hold the cup between his hands, and firebend it’s warmth back into it, and then he and Sokka will sit outside in the cool night air, their fingers intertwined between them, and stare out at the moon.

Years in the future, Sokka will still be Zuko’s, and Zuko will still be Sokka’s. They’ll retain their annoying habits, and they’ll still sleep with the same mannerisms and have nightmares in the same way that they did when they were young. 

Years in the future, Zuko will still wake with sparking hands, and Sokka will still wake with ragged breath. But they’ll figure it out. They always do.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that yall liked this! like i said at the beginning, i feel like sokka's traume deserves just as much attention as zuko's, and so i wanted to provide this as my humble offering to do so. if you feel so inclined, leave some kudos and drop a comment to tell me what you feel! your words always make my day! <33
> 
> xx,  
> CJ


End file.
